Wire-crimping machine



(No Model.)

T. L. JOHNSON.A

WIRE CRIMPING MACHINE.

Patented Aug. 3, 1886.

lull

WITNESSES.'

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

EL/WJSNTOR ATTORNEY (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

T. L. JOHNSON.

AWIRE CRIMPING MACHINE. No. 346,479. Patented Aug. 3, 1886.

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v UNITED STATES PATENT 'Friet-;

TOM L. JOHNSON, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

wluE-CRIMPING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent. No,` 346,479, dated .August Application led February 13, 1886. Serial No. 191.891. (No model.)

T0 @ZL whom, it may concer-72,:

Be it known that I, TOM L. JOHNSON, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga. and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Machine for Crimping the Strands of Vire Cables, which invention is fully set forth and illustrated in the following specification and accompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to make a machine that will impart a series of crimps in the exterior solid strands of a wire cable, such crimps to form loops or eyes, by means of which and by cross bars or stops riveted through said eyes two cables may be connected together to form a double cable suitable for use as a' traction-cable for cable railways.7

rlhe invention consists of the parts and com binations ot' parts hereinafter described, and set forth in the claims.

In said drawings, Figure l is a side elevation ol the machine. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of Fig. 1,viewcd from the right-hand side. Fig. 3 is a plan ofthe machine. Fig. 4 shows in plan a piece of a wire strand after having had a crimp imparted to it by the machine. Fig. 5 shows in side view the strand shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is an end view of the strand shown in Fig. 5.

In said figures the several parts are indicated by letters, as follows: A, the housing of the machine; B B, easings in which two socket-pieces b I) are iitted to vibrate on each side of the housing A by means of their arms b b', forming parts of said socket-pieces. Said casings are bolted tothe housing A. The socketpieces b b have each let into them two steel die-pieces, D Z13-four in all. Theupper dies, b2, are rigidly keyed into the socket-pieces b b at the dovetails It l1. The lower dies, b, are free to move up and down, and are actuated for such motions by the levers G and togglejoints g g. Said. levers are operated by the arm or lever a4, united thereto by pins a and working on a fnlcrum at c5 in a lug or offset, A', on the housing A. The socket-pieces b b are caused to vibrate by means of the crankwheels F F, which connect therewith by the arms E E, having pins ec passing through slots in the ends of the arms b b, said connection serving as an adjustable connection in a wellknown manner. The pat-h or passage between.

the upper and lower dies, bf b b2 b, is helical, as indicated by the double lines of separation between said dies. The shalt which carries the crank-wheels F F is journalcd in bearings under the housing A. The upper part of said housing ends in an overhang, C', in which is a boss, C2. Through said bossa plunger, ci, passes, actuated by an arm, (t, working bctween the lugs A on top of the housing A. Keyed to the lower part ot' the overhang C is a stationary crimping-die, ci. In the plate C is guided the piston c, actuated to rise by means ot the eceentricf on the shaftj', and falling by its own gravity. The piston c" carries with it the lower crimping-die, c.

The purpose and operation of the machine are as follows: The machine is designed to take a wire already. set to the form of numerous helical convolutions of uniform pitch, to which the helical pitch ofthe groove or passage through the dies b2 b corresponds, and to put a series of crimps in said wire, so that when a number of these wires are woven or laid up together they will form a cable provided with a series of loops or eyes wherever said crimps appear. The wires are so laid up together that each crimp protrudes on one and the same side of the cable, and all are situated at regular intervals apart. Two of these cables, being laid side by side, may be connected by a series of stops. The stops may be made in two pieces and connected by rivets passing through said loops or eyes, as illustrated in Patent No. 310,285, issued to me January G, 1885.

In Fig. 6 ot' the accompanying drawings is shown an end view of a helical wire after the crimp is formed. The dotted lines J J show the form, in an end view, ofthe part of the helix not crimped, while the letter K indicates the crimp protruding beyond the true curvilinear path of thc helix. Said crimps are enth pitch distance apart, according to the number of wires in the cable, by which means the crimps are distributed uniformly over every wire in the cable. It is possible, however, to put a crimp at uniform and suitable distances in the same wire, and then to weave this wire in with all the other wires (uncrimped) forming the cable; or the crimps may be otherwise distributed among the wires of the cable, so

-fornied on the same wire,say, every sixth or sev- IOC b, and the wire is thus clamped between said v jaws. As the interior or faces of said jaws or dies are the same in curve and pitch as the convolutions in the wire, no distortion of the wire ensues from such clamping. The shaftf, being now rotated by any suitable means, l(not showin) forces the piston c4, with its crimping-die c, up against the stationary crimpingdie e, thus forming the crimp in the wire. As this formation of said crimp takes up metal, the part of the helix or convolution clamped must be drawn together; otherwise distortion of the helix or fracture of the Wire may ensue. The approach or feed of the metal must also be in a helical path, not in a rectilinear course,

or the helix in the wire would not be preserved. Such feed requires a partial rotation of the wire around the neutral axis of the helixs-imultaneously with a movement of each set of dies toward the crimp-that is, the left-hand clamping-dies move tothe right and the righthand clamping-dies move to the left, While each set is partially rotated. Such rotation is effected, as before described, by means of the crank-wheels F F through the conneeting-rods E E and levers b. The side motions or inner movements of each set of dies are 'effected by means of projcctionsi i on the back of the sockets b b, set like pins or sections of screwthreads in grooves formed in and around the back part of the casing B B. (Indicated by the dotted circle of :r x, Fig. l.) Said grooves are given such a pitch in their wind,

- as indicated by the dotted lines Z Z in Fig.

3, as will secure, on the rotation of the socket-pieces b b, the desired lateral feed motion of the dies I;2 b3, the projectilons fi in said socketpieces having a pitch corre.

spending to that of said grooves. The winding-grooves may be. put in the socketpieces and the pins in the casing, if preferred, and quite obviously the same effect Will be produced. It will be observed that the rotation of the socket-pieces b I) is in opposite direclent to the amount taken up in the crimping. While this provision is made forthus feeding the wire to the amount taken up in the crimping, yet such provision is not absolutely necessary in all cases. With a very stiff (highcarbon-steel) Wire the distortion would be little or none if a rather loose t be given to the clamping-dies, the act of crimping in such case drawing the wire through said dies without appreciable distortion. Under the same circumstances, however, a very soft (or low-carbon-steel) wire would suffer some distortion. With a very short wire, also, the screw-md tion feed of the clamping-dies may be dispensed with, said dies having a sufficientlyloose fit; but with a verylong wire, occasioning much greater resistance, due to greater friction and weight, the provision for positive feed motion in the clamping-dies, hereinafter described, becomes advantageous.

Each wire to be crimped may be conveniently fed into this machine from crimp to crimp, either by hand or by any suitable special machinery designed for and applied to such purpose.

The province of the arm a and plunger a2 is to extract or forcethe crimped wire out of the upper d ie should the wire hang therein.

Having thus fully described my said wirercrimping machine, as of my Ainvention I claimf l. A machine for crimping wire, provided with helically-faced clamping-dies, a crimping-plunger and die arranged and combined so as to crimp the wire and to simultaneously feed it in its proper path, whereby distortion of the wire is avoided in effecting the crimping of the saine, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A machine for crimping wire, provided `with dies having,helicallygrooved faces for clamping 'the wire, and adapted to receive angular and lateral rectilinear feed motion, in combination with crimpingdies, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a machine for crimping wire, a pair of crimping dies in combination with side clamping dies, provided with a screw-motion lateral feed, whereby sufficient wire is fed to `said crimping-dies to effect the desired crimp,sub stantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In a machine for crimping wire, in combination with clamping-dies provided with h'elic'ally grooved faces, socketpieces extevriorly provided with screw-threads or studs `working in corresponding threads in a casing surrounding said sockets, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

TOM L. JOHNSON.

' Witnesses:

C. L. HoTzE, A. J. MOXHAM.

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